


Three and a Half

by inquisitor_tohru



Series: Far Above the Moon [38]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Brendol Hux's A+ Parenting, Dysfunctional Family, Enric Pryde is Not Nice, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26777944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru
Summary: Tonight hadn't promised to be a good night to begin with, and Pryde's needling was going to make it a whole lot worse.
Relationships: Brendol Hux & Enric Pryde, Brendol Hux & Maratelle Hux, Enric Pryde & Maratelle Hux
Series: Far Above the Moon [38]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/536698
Kudos: 1
Collections: write to my heart





	Three and a Half

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the **write to my heart** shiritori community. My starter came from:
> 
> "He could stand up to his father and fight the council, as long as his uncle was **proud of him."**

"Proud of him? You must be joking. The boy's _worse_ than useless, Enric." Maratelle noticed that Brendol speared the slab of red meat on his dinner plate with a great deal more force than was necessary. Tonight hadn't promised to be a good night to begin with, and Pryde's needling was going to make it a whole lot worse. Especially for "the boy". At times like these, Maratelle wondered if it would have been better if Armitage had stayed with his mother. 

But she didn't know what the right choice was between a poor but loving home, and a miserable one in which he was fed, clothed, and educated. Brendol  _ ought _ to have provided for the child and his mother regardless of circumstance, but she knew her husband. She knew how badly he wanted an heir, or so she'd thought. Maratelle told herself again that it had been the right choice, that love and goodwill alone didn't put food on the table. 

She almost believed it.

"Surely he can't be that bad," Pryde continued, his voice like velvet, "he's receiving the finest education the Empire has to offer-"

"He's three and a half, Enric," Maratelle said, unable to bite her tongue any longer, consequences be damned. At least it might spare Armitage  _ some  _ of his father's wrath. "He's not one of the Commandant's Cadets."

"No," Brendol said, "and with his attitude, he never will be. And your  _ coddling _ does him no favours." Most dinner guests would be appalled to witness the beginning of such a dispute, but Pryde's thin smile was not one of awkwardness or forced politeness. 

"Now, Brendol," Pryde said, "it is a mother's prerogative to spoil a child, at least a little. You know, my own mother even used to let me lick the spoon when she baked." Somehow, Maratelle found it about as hard to imagine Enric Pryde as a child as she did to believe that the reference to baking had been coincidental. Pryde raised his wine glass with another smile, and her heart sank.

"Happy anniversary."


End file.
